It is not a secret to anyone who has known me for the last 10 years that I am a fairly big fan of the band Medicine. I had MUCH love for them. Well, many years ago now, they broke up, for what reason I am not sure, but break up they did. I have missed them in their absence and was lucky enough to have seen them every time they played here to my knowledge before they called it a day. A recent trip to the record store revealed they had a new CD out. I did not buy it for the single reason that the original singer, Beth, who not only had a most beautiful voice, but was COMPLETELY SMOKIN’ HOT, is not in the band anymore and they have a new girl singing. I have no clue if she is hot or not, but she is not Beth! That is blasphemy, just like the Dead Kennedy’s singing without Jello Biafra! Well, just the other day at another record store I saw they had a new 7″ single out. I picked it up cuz it was a cheaper investment than the CD to find out what they sound like now without my beloved Beth (btw – does anyone know what ever happened to her, and most important – if she is free to date me?!). I just got done listening to it, and while it does not suck, it also sounds NOTHING like the Medicine of old. Gone are the super abrasive guitars, gone is Beth. The new girl sounds fine, but the music itself is some average British sounding alterna-rock. Why Brad Laner decided to call this Medicine is a mystery to me, it is nowhere near the same band, he is the only one playing on this record that played on the old ones. They should have just left it alone. Now they are tainting their once great legacy, much like I’m afraid Skinny Puppy might be doing if that song on the Underworld soundtrack is any indication as to what their new record is going to sound like.
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get over it, asshole. and grow some erars.are you a music fan or just a fan of haggy junkies ?
1. What are erars?
2. I obviously AM a fan of music, how can thinking it was a bad idea to use the name Medicine when the band in no way resembles the Medicine of old, make you think I don’t like music?!
3. Who is a haggy junkie?
4. grow up, learn to spell, and try coming up with a more creative fake name next time kid.
don’t you know it’s bad netiquette to criticize spelling errors ?
the new medicine highly resembles the old medicine in many significant ways.. hence my suggestion of obtaining some ‘erars’.
guess what.. true artists grow and change.. sorry, man there is no santa claus..go change your poopy pants.
beth thompson is a haggy junky that can’t sing her way outta a paper bag…
what the fuck has your object of desire done in the last 10 years?
Fool, it’s “bad netiquette” to make spelling errors in the first place. Take a little time to compose your thoughts if you’ve actually got something worthwhile to say and you won’t just be dismissed as the troll you are.
interesting that all you can do is complain about my one spelling error. I think what I said( albeit sloppily) was indeed worthwhile and appropriate to the subject matter at hand.
if yr gonna hate , deal with the hate you get in return.
also, if you don’t want opinions from ‘trolls’ then why not make this site password protected ?
just admit it, this argument has made your week. : P
How was it worthwhile? What insight have you given me and whoever else reads this site? You spewed some poorly spelled sentence that made little sense.
If you think this “argument” made my week, you wrongly assume my life is as boring and pathetic as yours must be.
If you have something intelligent to say about said topic, then say it. Who is the haggard junkie? Do you know Beth’s whereabouts? Do you have a story as to why Medicine broke up back then and why Brad Laner feels the need to resurrect it in name only (much like Jerry Only’s current version of “the misfits”)?
I didn’t think so…
ok i’ll say it again, since you didn’t notice the first time evidently :
the new medicine highly resembles the old medicine in many significant ways.. hence my suggestion of obtaining some ‘erars’.
guess what.. true artists grow and change.. sorry, man there is no santa claus..go change your poopy pants.
beth thompson is a haggy junky that can’t sing her way outta a paper bag…
The 7″ I bought sounds NOTHING like the old Medicine. I have no clue about the full length, I don’t own it, and am not going to buy it.
Again I ask you if you have some factual stories, then share them.
Wow, I guess you showed me.
saying it sounds NOTHING like the old Medicine is just plain stupid.
you are wrong, sir. and worse, bigoted since you haven’t even heard the album.
Dude, the inital post was ABOUT THE 7″ I bought! It sounds nothing like Medicine. And calling the band Medicine now when Brad Laner is the only original member is just plain wrong. I could give a shit about the album at this point after hearing the 7″.
And again, you have nothing of value to share as far as info or stories go.
Thanks for playing.
it sounds exactly like Medicine, ya gots no ears son.. who the hell do you think started medicine/wrote the songs/produced the records ?
what kinda info or stories are you looking for ?
Having a differing opinion is fine. It’s how you chose to present your differing opinion that Mike and his friends (myself included) found offensive, hal. Calling someone an asshole is no way to get taken seriously if you’re really trying to make a case for, well, anything. Unless you’re in, say, the sixth grade. If you’ve got something personal at stake in the whole old Medicine vs. new Medicine and you’re so bitter about it that you find it necessary to strike out at strangers over the Internet, perhaps you’d find your time better spent by explaining what’s got your goat instead of resorting to childish outbursts. Or maybe you just need a hug, baby doll.
Apparently Beth has (or had) a site at http://www.webstatic.com/Poets/Beth/bt001_bio.htm . Not coming up for me presently.
Unfortunately, that is not the same Beth.
yes it is !
No, that is not the same person by a long shot.
alright. this album sounds very much nothing like the orignal medicine. The most obvious difference is the lack of the dynamic created by a band as opposed to solo projects ( and this is indeed a brad laner solo project). The other difference is the lack of Beth, who, haggard junky or not, was the face that people assiciated with the band.
That said. its not a bad record. It’s not what i wanted when i bought it, but its not bad.
Here’s what happened to Medicine:
YES, artists evolve, NO, Beth hasn’t been mass marketed by a PR machine in 10 years, but how do you know she hasn’t evolved? She’s alive, and an artist, ergo…see point no. 1; one thing that was so special about Medicine was that it was composed of FIVE (not three) artists who each have (still!) very strong artistic strengths (and I don’t mean they were just technically proficient–actual artists). The reason Medicine came out so well was that they had the attitudes among each other to fight out the best artistic solutions. Emotionally speaking, Brad punches quite hard, and doesn’t care if he hits you in the balls. Ed and Jim P. got sick of it and left, and are still paying back “advances” they received so that Brad could have a lot of state-of-the-art recording equipment. But Jim G. and Beth would punch back, and they are tough as nails. It’s was a kind of extreme collaborative effort. It was a very dirty war, and not without a good measure of the problems caused when two very imaginative geeks fight over a sexy woman, a woman who probably didn’t mind egging them on. All the songs are ABOUT the struggles they had among themselves–it was a closed emotional system. Listen to the lyrics. It’s all about them. But that’s why the songs are so good. They were not just guessing about what it would feel like if…. Breaking up was heartbreaking and continues to be so 10 years later–tears still flow. Separately, they are without question very talented musicians. Medicine was one of those band things where the whole was greater than the sum of the parts. Unless YOUR band achieves that critical mass of magic, it’s still a day job. Just being frank. If someone liked “Mechanical Forces,” good for you. Enjoy–but it is a separate argument when discussing the sad state of Brad grasping for any blade of grass he can find. He apparently has a child and a mortgage; none of the others have been so fortunate, but then again, losing a house and child due to lack of work is pretty much more painful than moving in with friends if times are lean. Brad is a lot more forceful when it comes to business than the others, and it is too bad that he couldn’t have been more of a mensch–what is legal, or get-away-with-able, is not always what is fair or equitable. He knows the other band members don’t have the $$$ to fight him in court, and he takes great advantage of that. And if you don’t believe Brad is too difficult, why did Shannon Lee, in a pre-release interview about “Mechanical,” say that it was fun, but they would probably never work together again? She cited the fact that she was too busy with her solo career. Huh? Right. I think it was “let’s make the best of getting what we can from this album, but that is it, asshole.” It is such a sad thing, but, if you lived in Los Angeles, you would probably have your own “Brad” story of how he fucked you over. Brad, if you read this, you CAN make amends. You cannot atone, but you can begin trying to lead a more empathetic life. What a waste if you don’t.
Also, the website for Beth listed above is definitely not that Beth Thompson–she looks nothing like her, and her work bears no resemblance whatsoever.
I also really miss Medicine. I never got to see them live, and it took me about two years to really hear it properly–I’m a girl, and about as un-Beth as you could get, but she really helps me develop my inner Beth–Beth! Come back! Please!